More than 40 kilometres of life saving wire rope barriers have been installed on the Princes Highway between Melbourne and Geelong - making the road safer for the 106,000 drivers who use it every day.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan today inspected the $17.5 million project, which will see an additional 100 kilometres of barriers installed between Waurn Ponds and Laverton North over the next year.
The project is nearing the half way mark with work on the Geelong-bound carriageway progressing at a rate of one kilometre a day.
The entire 73 kilometre safety upgrade is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.
In the five years to July 2016 there were more than 60 run-off road crashes, including four fatalities and 33 serious injuries.
The Andrews Labor Government is investing $1 billion to improve safety on high risk arterial roads, rolling out more than 1500km of wire rope barriers across the state.
The Princes Highway West is one of nine divided roads in Victoria to receive new left hand side and centre median safety barriers, which are proven to save lives.
The project is being delivered as part of the Labor Government’s Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission and VicRoads.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan
“Everyone makes mistakes on the road, but no one should die because of them. That’s why we’re investing $1 billion in life saving safety infrastructure like wire rope barriers.”
“We’re rolling out more than 140 kilometres of wire rope barrier on the Princes Highway between Geelong to stop run-off road crashes and keep people safe on this critical arterial road.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020